


Studious

by LittleLimey



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Drabble, Essek knows Caleb is pretty and is unsure how to progress with this, M/M, Pining, that 12 perusasion roll huh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 12:12:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19745536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLimey/pseuds/LittleLimey
Summary: Essek is supposed to be tutoring Caleb. Caleb likes books. Essek knows the best place to take Caleb to help advance his studies.He just can't get out of his mind how attractive the human is.





	Studious

“I’ve heard that you’ve requested access to the library within the Marble Tomes Conservatory.”

The comment seemed to catch Caleb off-guard, his eyes flicking up from the book he had been only moments ago engrossed in. Essek sat across the table from him, his hands steepled together under his chin as he seemed to regard Caleb. His expression was calm, but his eyes were intense, looking over Caleb’s face for any kind of tic or response. All he got was Caleb’s own gaze briefly flicker somewhere between Essek’s eyes and then fall away to below his chin (as per norm whenever the Empire wizard looked at him) and a cough. An utterly neutral cough, much to Essek’s dismay. He’d been wondering if there would be any nervousness or excitement, any sort of response to gauge Caleb’s interest in the library.

“I did, ja”, Caleb replied. He had in fact been denied that access. Being heroes of the Dynasty wasn’t quite enough to garner enough trust to peruse the books in that library, not matter how keen Caleb was or how much he turned his words to put emphasis on how much he’d actually done (with his friends/family of course) for the Dynasty’s betterment. The hint of disappointment in his three word reply to Essek was enough for the drow to snag hold of. He allowed a two minute pause, enough for Caleb to return to the book in front of him. Enough time for a better response.

“Would you like me to accompany you within?”, Essek asked Caleb. This time when Caleb’s eyes flickered up, there was a brightness in those blue, forget-me-not blue eyes, and Essek felt satisfaction purr deep inside his chest. 

“I would be very grateful”, Caleb said, his words measured out before they could trip over each other in eagerness. His readings and teaching with Essek had been a gift thus far, learning the basics and turnings of dunamancy. But this was a whole new level and he wanted it  _ so badly _ .

“I expect to meet you outside the Observatory at ten”, Essek told Caleb, reaching across the table for the ink pot and Caleb had noticed and was also reaching over to move the pot over, and for a moment there was a spark of heat between their skin as fingers slid over palm and their hands met. They both recoiled, but neither could ignore that the recoil had been slower than should be expected of just work partners.

“Ten o’clock”, Caleb echoed back, and he smiled, a twitch to his lips. “I will see you there, Herr Thelyss.”

  
-

At five minutes to ten, Caleb had arrived at the doors of the Marble Tomes Observatory. There was at least one Krynn soldier that had given him a side-eye as he approached the building, but he was well recognised by now and other soldiers had dipped their heads slightly in the barest respectful greeting. It was possible that it was just peculiar for the human to be around without any of his other companions.

He lingered around the front door, waiting for Essek to arrive but already too keen to get inside. This was an unmissable opportunity. There was so much more Caleb could learn within those doors - not just dunamancy, but Xhorhassian history, society, culture, people. What was polite, what was rude. How people courted.

That last little thread of interest lit a blushing heat in Caleb’s cheeks. He needed to keep those kinds of thoughts to another time, when he was not being accompanied by the Shadowhand on official business. Keep work and other interests separate, he told himself. It wasn’t like he could be assured that Essek would have any interest toward him, after all.

“Herr Widogast”, Essek’s cool voice spoke up behind Caleb and there was a prickling that rose up his back to his neck, a cold defensive prickling. It made him stand up straighter and breath in sharply. Essek squinted for a moment - it wasn’t the kind of response he’d expected from Caleb. Maybe he should avoid sneaking up on the other man, or getting too close behind him without his say-so.

Despite his social blunder, Caleb still turned to him with a casual smile and a respectful greeting. 

“Herr Thelyss”, he said. “You are picking up Zemnian?”

“I took it to be an honorific, as you keep using it for me”, Essek explained as he glided past Caleb to open the observatory door. “Either it is a title of high praise, or it is an insult. Whether it is one or the other, I deem it correct to be used for yourself in return.” Caleb flushed again in the cheeks, although this was less of thoughts Essek had no knowledge of and more of slight embarrassment. It had the unexpected side-effect of making his freckles more visible. It was a strange thing of humans, their pinkish freckles. Essek wanted to sit down and count them.

He quickly turned and headed into the observatory with Caleb at his heels, making sure he didn’t see Essek’s darkening cheeks.

  
  


The Krynn soldiers and the library archivist were not happy. They were perfectly happy to allow the Shadowhand entrance to the library, absolutely. But when they looked over at Caleb, their eyes hardened and their voices became disagreeable. Thankfully Essek knew his own way with words, how to tug the feet of people out from under them and wrap their own sentences around themselves, using his position and his focus to equal measure. Soon enough the archivist was left slightly blustered but willing to allow Caleb in with Essek, but only so long as Essek chose what books to let Caleb read and that the human stayed close to Essek’s side. Caleb could taste the metallic tension in the air as he was lead inside by Essek, keeping his head down and away from the glares of the archivist as they stepped inside the library proper.

Any nerves he might have felt were blown away by the bright open space of the library itself. It was huge, built in the feeling of the dodecahedron with five large walls that reached up high above Caleb’s head. The roof was glass, allowing a view up into the dark sky that sheltered Rosohna. But there was no end of lights in the library, with pale magical torches set in sconces, along with bubbles of light that bedecked the air overhead and turned the glass ceiling into a night sky of stars. 

And the  _ books _ . Shelves and shelves of books, two floors of them with spiralling staircases between. 

“Caleb”, Essek spoke up, not wanting to leave the dazed Caleb behind after the archivist’s insistences. Caleb shook his head, clearing away the awed thoughts while his face kept the excitement that was beginning to bubble up. 

“It is beautiful”, he said.

“Quite so. The walls themselves are made of marble, hence the name of the observatory. All the lights themselves are self-sustaining from enchantments on the torches”, Essek explained with a smile, glad to see Caleb so enthralled by his peoples’ work.

“Ah. Yes, the building is lovely too”, Caleb stammered out. Essek couldn’t hide his chuckle at that. Of course Caleb would have been more entranced by the books than the architecture. No worry there, there was plenty of time for the two of them, and Essek knew where to start perusing. He led the way up one of the flights of stairs, following steps that he’d taken many times in his learning to become a dunamancer himself. Fingers dancing over the spines of books, he found a book on one part of the history on dunamancy and handed it over to Caleb. Within about a blink of an eye, Caleb had the book in his own hands, open to the front page, and his eyes were flickering over the words as he ate it in. 

Essek leaned back against the bookshelves, watching Caleb reading. He’d found himself doing so more than he’d expected, just watching the other man when he was deep within a book. Caleb’s focus was intense, blocking out the rest of the world. His eyes would shift and move with each sentence he took in, narrowed in on the pages, those forget-me-not blue eyes. Essek’s gaze wandered, over Caleb’s cheeks with the star scattering of freckles, up to the locks of bronze sunlight hair and those little softly curved ears hidden away underneath. Would Caleb let him investigate those ears further? There looked so small, Essek wondered how it’d feel to run his finger over the curve. How would Caleb react? Would he shudder or moan or whisper Essek’s name?

The heat returned again to Essek’s cheeks, and he was thankful that Caleb was so heavily focused on his book. As he looked around though, he began to notice other patrons of the library looking at him. Or rather, looking at Caleb. No, glaring at Caleb. Irritated that the apparent sanctity of an important place of knowledge might have been trespassed by this human. 

Essek felt his shoulders tense and he returned the glares two-fold. Caleb was here as invited by himself, the Shadowhand. Caleb was  _ his  _ guest,  _ his _ student. He let his authority take the lead on this and watched as irritation folded in the faces of those he’d caught out, quickly glancing away from the two mages and going back to their own business. Good. But even so, Essek wondered whether it would be better to retreat to his own office within the observatory library. Give Caleb time and privacy to read. He began to make a small stack of books, reaching up the shelves to pick them off.

“......Hm.”

One was out of reach. It shouldn’t have been out of reach, it should have been on the shelf below. Perhaps Essek could have left it behind, but he knew Caleb would especially enjoy this tome. He needed to get it. Maybe if he just….he placed a hand on the shelf at chest height and pushed up for that extra bit of height.

“Herr Thelyss?”

Essek slipped. 

He was down before he could bring a spell that would reverse the gravity to his lips, dropping the stack of books from under his arm and landing with a loud THUNK on a surprisingly soft carpet. Had the library changed it?

No. The carpet was now a wizard.

Caleb had one arm awkwardly around Essek’s waist from where he’d tried to catch the drow mid-fall, the other arm askance on the ground where he’d tried to catch himself. Essek meanwhile was partially straddling Caleb’s legs, an ankle hooked under a thigh, the edges of the cloak pooling out in the mimicry of an ink spillage. The books lay around them, and his arms caged over Caleb’s chest, which rose and fell in heavy breaths. Their faces were very close.

Caleb hadn’t quite realised how much like the sun in pictures and temple windows resembled Essek’s eyes, or that he had a tiny smatter of freckles on the bridge of his nose that looked like stars. 

“Are you alright?”, he managed to stammer out a question.

“Yes, yes I am fine”, Essek replied quickly. “Are you?”

“Ja, I have experienced much worse landings.” Caleb permitted himself a small smile, to show he wasn’t injured or upset. In truth his heart was hammering beyond his chest into his throat, and with this distance he was sure Essek would hear. Essek just chuckled that quiet and smug laugh of his, and began to disentangle himself from Caleb on the floor.

“I was collecting books for you so that we might retire from out here into my private office”, Essek explained. “So you might not assume you may be hassled for time.” And to take him away from prying eyes, take him somewhere private, just for himself. Caleb also considered the benefits of privacy, and swallowed a breath of nervous excitement. 

“I would like that, Herr Thelyss”, he murmured. “I would like that quite a lot.”


End file.
